Built from the shell of an ancient foundation, the Arx Colosseum has undergone renovations to allow multiple new configurations for battle. Its spectator setup remains largely the same, with high walls, tall enough for even the most savvy Jedi to find unscalable that lead up to spectator chairs which are divided into nearly organized sections to accommodate several thousand people. At the center, an elongated platform “box” contains a central throne of stone with various seats of smaller scale lined beside it in both directions. Two large holo-projection screens are set up on each side of the Colosseum, offering different angles of the match bia holocam drones.

Today’s setup is known as The Forge.

Inspired by the droid factories on Geonosis and the flowing lava rivers of Mustafar, the Forge is a collection of deadly heat and hard-slamming steel. In the center of the arena is a “peak” from which the lava flows downward through rivers and cliff-faces. Radiating outward is a series of tiered rings, each getting lower the further from the center you get.

Along the rivers of lava, various arteries suck out the super heated earth to melt metal. The loud clanking slamming of metal sheets heating and cooling, tempering and forging together ring clearly through the entire arena. Conveyor belts lead the metal sheets away from the arena to be used by ACE in the spaceship yards.

Lucine Vasano stood before the great double doors of the Colosseum, absently running her fingers through her curls. After her last match, the medics had unceremoniously dumped her into a vat of bacta to make sure that she was in fighting shape for her next bout. It had worked wonders in healing the cuts, bruises and broken bones from her fight against Morgan.

But it had utterly wrecked her hair.

She caught sight of her reflection in a nearby mirror, and tossed her hair over her shoulder experimentally. Her curls fell in easy waves, shining copper against her matte black armor. But it did not have its usual volume or luster. Even worse, it looked like she had applied a bit too much product. Ordinarily, she would have hidden such imperfection beneath an illusion, but such a trick would not work on the holocam droids. With so little time before her next bout, her last minute efforts would simply have to do.

Beyond the double doors, she heard Idris Adenn’s voice rise above the cheers of the crowd as he announced the next match. Her match. The roar of the crowd rose to a thunderous pitch, eager for the next display of violence and bloodshed.

The doors swung open, and Lucine was immediately struck by a blast of heat from the Colosseum floor. Her eyes widened as she saw the venue. A central hub rose high above the floor with rivers of lava pouring from it. That lava ran in sluggish streams down tiered rings of metal and stone, feeding into monstrous machines. The air wavered with the heat that wafted off of the molten rock, and the noise of the machines thrummed through her, almost completely drowning out the crowd.

As she stepped into the arena, the heat and humidity wrapped around her like a damp blanket. It was all she could do to keep her hands from flying to her hair. Even without touching it, she could feel it already beginning to tangle into a frizz.

Humidity, her greatest and most insidious foe.

Lucine thought about simply retreating through the doors, but they boomed shut behind her before she could dart through. There was nothing for it. The show would have to go on.

The redhead hid her horror behind a brilliant smile as she waved to the crowd, surreptitiously checking her image in the holoprojector as she did so. She was relieved to see that the damage was not yet evident. She gave a saucy wink toward the box where the Councillors sat and blew them a kiss, stalling for time as she considered her options.

Unfortunately, only one came to mind.

She quickly twisted her hair into a knot before putting on her helmet. Her armor lacked the controls to mitigate the temperature, and as a result it felt hot and stifling with the helmet on. But it was far better than letting the crowd see the tangled horror her hair would become after only a few minutes of exposure to the humidity. It was less than ideal and quite uncomfortable, but her personal comfort took a distant second to the preservation of her image.

She would simply have to end this fight as quickly as possible.

The holoprojector on the opposite end of the Colosseum displayed her opponent. Or, at least it should have. Instead, the image showed only a dark brown box sitting near the door they should have come through. Lucine watched the screen for a moment as she wracked her memory for any information about her opponent. Ordinarily she would have done her research prior to the start of the match, but emergency hair maintenance had taken priority. As a result, this Enzo Dek was a complete mystery to her.

Her opponent did not appear, and the box did not move.

She set her ID9 droid onto the ground and whispered a few commands to it. A few moments later, POR-7 skittered off on spindly legs, intent on its purpose. But still there was no movement from her opponent’s side of the arena.

Lucine growled softly under her breath. “I do not have time for this,” she grumbled, her patience already wearing thin from the heat and the noise. She grasped that anger, molded it, and directed that energy to her muscles.

Augmented strength coursed through her as she took off in a run, leaping over rivers of lava that glowed a dull orange in the sunlight. As she passed by the machines, she saw that they were massive presses that thrummed and boomed as they shaped white-hot metal into plates. She gave those machines a wide berth as she made her way across the arena floor to where the box stood.

She was covered in sweat by the time she made it to her opponent’s entrance, soaking her hair and ruining her makeup. Even worse, Enzo had yet to make an appearance. She slowed her pace as she neared the box.

This close, she could see that it was made of wood. Maple, by the look of it. It had no markings on it, nothing to indicate its purpose. But in this fiery industrial setting, it was the only thing that was out of place.

Lucine extended her senses, trying to locate Enzo Dek through the Force. She could sense the presence of a practitioner of the Light Side coming directly from where the box stood. Perhaps he was hiding inside it?

Despite the annoyance that coursed through her, Lucine was not one to forget her manners. She extended a hand to knock on the side. But before she could rap her knuckles against the box, it shifted into a face. The change was accompanied by a clangor from the Force, indicating an incoming attack.

Lucine yelped in surprise and jumped back, narrowly avoiding a thick branch-like appendage that lashed at her from the side of the box. She snatched her lightsaber off of her belt, igniting it as she fell into a combat stance.

As she watched, the wooden box unfolded itself into a massive humanoid shape. They towered over her, a huge creature with bark-like skin protruding with roots. Enzo Dek, it seemed, was a Neti.

“You’re a Sith,” Enzo proclaimed as they ignited their lightsaber. Their voice was full of bravado. “Yield now and we can both walk away unscorched.”

“And you are a tree, darling,” Lucine replied, whirling her own weapon in a showy pattern. “You are significantly more flammable than I am. I think I like my chances.”

The Neti glanced around, but if they were bothered by the heat or the close proximity to lava, they did not show it. “Well. Don’t say I didn’t give you the opportunity to walk away unscathed.”

They closed the distance between them with surprising speed, bringing their lightsaber down in an overhead attack. Lucine was able to block it, but the force of the blow was enough to cause her teeth to rattle. She assumed a defensive stance, her lightsaber raised.

With their superior size and reach, Enzo was easily able to dominate the combat. They hammered at her defenses relentlessly, forcing her backward with each devastating blow. Realizing that she would soon have the wall at her back, she leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding another powerful blow.

It was quickly becoming apparent that she would not win using brute force alone. Enzo’s attacks were brutal, backed with superior strength. She would need to change tactics if she wanted to succeed in this battle.

She had been using the Force to augment her strength, but now she altered the flow of energy, causing it to grant her speed. She jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding one attack, before spinning to one side to avoid another. She continued in this way, ducking and dodging, occasionally engaging her plasma shield to block attacks that came too close. Every step brought them closer to the machines that stood on the far edge of the platform.

“Not bad, darling,” she said, narrowly deflecting a blow that nearly tore her lightsaber from her grip. She darted back a few more steps, seeking to put more distance between them. “But it is only a matter of time before a stray spark sets you ablaze.”

“Strong words from someone who hasn’t even attacked yet!”

Lucine twisted to the side, barely avoiding being pierced by the Neti’s lightsaber. She grinned as she drew upon the Force once more. “I would advise you to yield if you catch fire.” She lent power to her words, weaving it into a command. Not an immediate order, but something more insidious. A seed planted into the fertile soil of their mind, waiting to sprout at an opportune moment.

“Stay out of my mind!” Enzo growled as they felt the intrusion. They closed one hand into a gnarled fist.

Lucine drew in a sharp breath as she felt her connection to the Force suddenly diminish. It felt as if that flowing river of power had suddenly slowed to a trickle, leaving a feeling of sluggishness and helplessness in its wake.

Enzo rushed toward her a moment later, lightsaber held aloft, prepared to bring it down in another overhead blow. She jumped backward, rolling over a conveyor belt carrying metal plates. She landed with a heavy thud on the other side as the plasma blade cleaved through the mechanism with ease, causing sparks to fly. Enzo drew back at the sight of the flickers of flame, giving her an opening.

Lucine was on her feet and running, moving at a zig-zagging pattern as she wove between the machines. She drew upon what little power she had available to her to leap up onto one of the higher platforms, where the lava flows were wider and more prevalent. If claiming the high ground was good enough for Obi-Wan Kenobi, then it would be good enough for her.

Enzo Dek stood before the great lava flows of the Colosseum, absently running their fingers through their roots. After their last match, the medics had unceremoniously dumped them into a vat of fertilizer to make sure that they were in fighting shape for their next bout. It had worked wonders in healing the cuts, bruises and broken credit chits from their fight against Yuki, who retreaded from the arena in order to catch 10 rabid porcupines for a merchant on Naboo.

But that was 10 minutes ago, before Dek transformed into their standard box formation.

The tact in which this illustrious woman had fought was something not seen before by Dek in this competition. She was sneaky though. Hiding something. Fighting up close had caught her off guard, but placing herself above the pits on the platforms meant she was ready to strategize from afar.

The only somewhat wise, but very old Sage drew from all their years of knowledge.

The Neti attempted to spin their lightsaber in the air, like they saw in a holocartoon once, lifting them through the air. But it failed.

“You’re playing loose with canon there,” spouted the Seeker from afar.

“Yes,” retorted the Jedi poopily, “I’m a loose cannon with loose canon.”

The Jedi sensed a pre-boss battle like chase ahead. What challenges awaited this Groot rip-off in the coming minutes?

They peered to an unsteady climbing area. Jumping would be bantha poopoo. They’d merely be kicked right off the edge of the platform and into the licking flames below. No…they had to climb. Enzo Dek clawed his way up the side of the rocky cliffs and metallic forges, just like Triclops when he climbed Mount Yoda on Dagobah. If it was good enough for him it was good enough for Dek!

“You’ll never win, Darth,” Dek chanted over their while clumsily stretching their neck over their shoulder. The Sage had never been good at lying, but it never stopped them from trying.

As Dek looked over to the platforms clamoring in front of them, they realized it looked much different from up here. Lucine was supposedly standing on one of a few cavalcade of metallic platforms, but with strange perception Dek now saw that the platforms were a lot smaller and more diverse, which multiple bridges straddling the folds of the surfaces and edges.

“You’ll have to fight me at some point!” She yelled enticingly.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” revoked the Consular tree confusingly.

“Which one?” Lucine responded with a smirk, focusing her mind on the vast illusion in front of her.

Lucine leaned against a nearby piece of machinery, feeling its vibrations thrum through her as she watched the Neti look around wildly, trying to determine the way forward. To their eyes, the scene would appear as if they were looking through a kaleidoscope of platforms and bridges. Seven different bridges and fourteen different platforms, each of varying shapes and sizes. And only one pathway forward was the correct one.

As far as illusions went, it had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the side of the skull. But Lucine was not in the mood to let this match last any longer than it had to. Her body and spirit could take the punishment of the heat, but her hair deserved better.

She watched and waited as Dek took one hesitant step forward toward an illusory bridge before trudging back two paces to reconsider. Poor fool. He had spent so much time training his wooden body that he had neglected his mental defenses.

“Shall I give you a hint?” she said in a teasing voice. Perhaps she could taunt them into hurrying up.

“I won’t fall for your tricks, Darth!”

Within her helmet, Lucine’s eyes narrowed. Sith Lords were a competitive, murderous bunch, and Enzo calling her ‘Darth’ was likely to bring attention that she was not yet ready to deal with. “Please, darling, I am not a Darth. Not yet anyway. Which is fortunate for you, because I doubt you would last five minutes against a true Sith Lord.”

“The Sith deal in lies, Darth! You won’t fool me!”

“And here, I thought we merely dealt in absolutes,” Lucine replied as she rolled her eyes. “Just concede already, darling. Perhaps you cannot hear, but the crowd seems to be getting restless.” Around them, the cheers had given way to boos as the audience bayed for blood. Without the benefit of being able to see her illusion, it would look to them like they were just standing there staring at one another.

Dek looked upward in her general direction, a grin spreading across their bark-covered face. “Did Mace Windu concede to Darth Plagueis when they fought on Tatooine?”

Silence stretched between them for a moment as Lucine puzzled out his question. It seemed like the Neti was waiting for an answer. “Uh… no?”

“Exactly!” Enzo said triumphantly. “And I won’t concede either!” They punctuated their words with a sudden, sharp whistle. Lucine lifted her eyebrows, impressed that Enzo could do such a thing, considering how wooden their lips were. Perhaps it was the heat, perhaps it was the fact that she was out of sorts from the state of her hair, but it took her a moment to realize that the Neti was looking at something in the sky.

The Force screamed a warning, accompanied by a piercing cry from overhead. Lucine dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding throwing herself into a runnel of lava. A massive talon closed around the space she had stood moments prior. A shriek hawk screamed in frustration, its expansive wings flapping as it took to the sky once more.

Lucine got to her feet and took off in a run, scanning her surroundings as she did so. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dek crossing the bridge. Her illusion had been disrupted by the distraction caused by the shriek hawk, allowing the Neti to cross safely. Overhead, the massive bird circled for another dive.

Movement caught her eye near a bank of machines on the far side of the platform. She sprinted toward the machines, leaping over small gaps in the surface and sluggish rivers of lava.

The Neti was drawing closer. The shriek hawk screamed as it dove.

Lucine dropped into a slide, skidding to a halt amid the relative safety of the machines. Wind from the hawk’s wings stirred the dust around her as the bird’s talons once more closed around empty air, mere inches from her head.

With a Binary scream, a small black droid leaped from its hiding place onto the shriek hawk’s back. POR-7 clung to the bird’s leathery flesh as the shriek hawk began to gain altitude once more. Fighting against the headwind and the beating of the bird’s wings, the ID9 droid began to crawl along its huge body, clinging to folds in the creature’s flesh. The shriek hawk soared a bit higher, flying in a tight circle around the upper edge of the Colosseum as it prepared to dive once more.

Finally, the little droid reached a spot just behind the bird’s head. It was then that the shriek hawk noticed the ID9 unit and banked hard toward the stands, trying to dislodge it. But POR-7 stubbornly clung on. It gave another mechanical squeal as it discharged its electric defense grid right at the base of the bird’s skull, causing the bird to shrill in rage and pain.

Incapacitated from its task, POR-7 lost its grasp on the hawk’s tough hide and fell. It shattered in a small explosion of sparks and metal on the stone platform below.

But it had done its job well. The shriek hawk’s wings twitched, flopping uselessly in the air as it was momentarily distracted from its flight by pain and confusion. Though it regained its senses a moment later, it was too late. The shriek hawk careened into the stands. Jeers from the crowd turned to startled screams as more than a few spectators were trapped beneath its massive coriaceous body.

“May!” Enzo gasped. Though they were still running toward the machine bank where they had last seen the Sith, they could not help but to stare up at their companion. From their vantage point, they could not tell if the bird was moving or not. But much as they wanted to check on their shriek hawk, they had to finish the match first. They would not be allowed to leave the Colosseum floor otherwise.

They caught a flash of movement just before the Sith darted out from between two machines, right in front of them. Acting on instinct, they swung their lightsaber. The armored Sith ducked, avoiding the plasma blade by inches before twisting to the side to avoid their follow-up slash.

“You’ll pay for hurting May!” Dek growled as he attacked her once more.

“Then you should not have brought it, darling,” Lucine replied dryly as she darted back a few steps, narrowly avoiding another blow. “Pets and blood sports rarely pair well.”

There was something wrong with the Sith’s movements. They were too fluid, almost unnaturally so. But the Neti was so concerned with ending the fight quickly that they put the thought aside. They slashed downward and at an angle. The Sith dodged, and they followed through with another slash at her side.

The Sith blurred as the plasma blade passed right through her.

Dek narrowed their eyes as the Sith darted to the right, apparently unharmed by the blow. Their feeling that something was wrong intensified as they realized that Lucine was not even attempting to attack.

They extended their senses, and felt… nothing.

Nothing from the image in front of them, anyway. They sensed a cloying shadow above and to the right of them. Looking upward, they saw the armored Sith standing next to a collection of pipes that fed into the peak of the Forge.

Lucine waved at them. There was a flash of green as her lightsaber flared to life, followed by a shower of sparks as she used it to make two parallel cuts into the pipes, causing a section to fall free. Lava poured forth. The streams and runnels immediately began to swell ahead of the wave of molten rock that flooded down the level tiers toward them.